Dec 16 2019

Mystery Foto #50 Solved: Joe Tracy & Jerry Helck in Old 16 at the 1945 Franklin County Fair


The Helck Family Collection challenged you to identify this weekend's Mystery Foto.

Mystery Foto questions:

  • Identify the driver and mechanician and their approximate ages

​The driver was veteran Vanderbilt Cup Race driver Joe Tracy (72 years) and the mechanician was  15-year old Jerry Helck , son of the owner of Old 16 Peter Helck.

  • What month and year was the Mystery Foto taken?

The Mystery Foto was taken on September 15 or 16, 1945.

  • Kudos question: Which automobile club sponsored this event at the the Greenfield Fair Grounds

​The meet and contests were sponsored by the VMCCA (Veteran Motor Car Club of America.

Comments (7):

Congrats to Dick Gorman, Steve Lucas, and Greg O.  for identifying the team of Tracy and Helck.

Kudos to Greg O. for finding the Mystery Foto in the Harlem Valley Times, published two years after the event.

Enjoy,

Howard Kroplick



Close-ups


Documentation (All found in the same folder)

Reverse side of the Mystery Foto: "Camera study by Arthur Griffin , Boston, Mass."

A map of the Veteran Motor Car Club of America Meet held in Greenfield, Massachusetts, September 15-16, 1945.

Peter Helck's complimentary ticket

Left to right: Jerry Helck, Joe Tracy and Peter Helck



Comments

Dec 15 2019 Dick Gorman 1:42 PM

Mystery Foto #50… In the photo the driver is Joe Tracy and the mechanician is Jerry Helck. But I don’t have any other answers regarding ages and date taken.

Dec 15 2019 S. Berliner, III 3:48 PM

Oh, why not guess?  Joe Tracy and Jerry Helck?  SCCA?  Sam, III

Dec 15 2019 Steve Lucas 11:13 PM

Just a few last minute guesses: I think that might be Joe Tracy and Jerry Helck. The photo may have been taken in September of 1948 on the 40th. anniversary of the Locomobile’s Vanderbilt Cup win. That would make him 75 years old and Jerry at 18.

Dec 16 2019 Greg O. 8:24 AM

I’ll say that’s a 69 year old Joe Tracy and a 12 year old Jerry Helck in 1942.

Dec 16 2019 Greg O. 8:45 AM

I’m revising my guess. The date would be June 1946 with Joe being 73 and Jerry being 16.

Dec 16 2019 Greg O. 8:47 AM

Found this;

image
Dec 16 2019 Roger 1:07 PM

Harry Grant
August 1960
AACA

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